Saints denied victory in aggression fueled stalemate

The St Albans Saints have played out a two all draw against the North Geelong Warriors at Elcho Park on Saturday afternoon.

Dinamo was aiming for a positive result after their narrow loss to the Bulleen lions and their hopes boosted by captain Ryan McGuffie and goalkeeper Aaron Romein joining the starting line-up.

Their opponents however were still without a win and were keen to claim their first victory of the season against their staunch rivals.

Yet, it was in the opening minute of play that Rodrigo Covarrubias gave the Saints the advantage after defeating the goalkeeper and striking into an open net.

The somewhat waterlogged pitch did not seem to faze the hosts as they were consistently quick on the counter attack as well as at moving the play from side to side.

The Dinamo defence anchored by the centre-back pairing of McGuffie and Ben Shaper, prevented several scoring opportunities with youngster Adrian Dobraszkiewicz also consistent in the right-back position.

However, it was a Michael Grgic mistimed error which eventuated in a scrappy equaliser for the hosts.

Caleb Mikulic quickly recovered the Saints’ lead, striking the ball home into the bottom left corner of the net.

North Geelong commenced the second with a renewed desire and aggression for victory as they pressed high up onto the pitch, forcing the Saints to back track at times.

Vito Cichello cut a dominant figure in the centre of the park for the hosts as their collective speed enabled them to weave into the emerging gaps in play.

Their efforts resulted in another equaliser which propelled Dinamo into action.

Yet, despite numerous other chances from both sides, neither could score the clinical final goal.

The result sees Dinamo remain in second-last position while the Warriors sit firmly in last place.

Dinamo will next square off against the Port Melbourne Sharks on Sunday.